Sorrento, FL - A man is facing charges of animal cruelty and possession of a firearm as a felon after allegedly shooting and killing his neighbor's dog and injuring a woman's service animal.
Police say 65-year-old Sheldon Hayward was booked into jail after the incident, which occurred on Saturday at a home on Holopaw Trail in Sorrento.
According to police, a neighbor and her daughter let their dogs outside to play in the backyard, inadvertently leaving their back gate open, allowing the dogs to escape.
While searching for the dogs, they heard a gunshot and rushed to the front yard, where they discovered one of the dogs lying lifeless after it'd been shot in the head.
The second dog, which was the woman's service animal, had also been shot and was taken to an animal hospital for treatment.
The extent of the service animal's injuries has not been disclosed.
During an investigation into the shooting, deputies found a pool of blood near Hayward's home and questioned him about the shooting.
Hayward claimed that a group of aggressive dogs had come to his house, with one of them jumping on his fence.
In an attempt to scare them away, Hayward said he resorted to using a shovel, but when that didn't work, he retrieved a rifle and fired five shots at the dogs from behind his fence.
However, deputies concluded that Hayward was not in immediate danger and that his actions resulted in unnecessary harm to the dogs, leading to his arrest for animal cruelty.